Category Archives: Cloud Computing
Data in the Cloud is Much More at Risk Than Enterprises May Think – CISO MAG
By Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India
Cloud computing has become near-ubiquitous, with Indias cloud market poised to reach over US$7 billion by 2022. The use of cloud services has empowered organizations to accelerate their businesses with more agile technology at moderate costs. Cloud is making IT more strategic than ever and companies are structuring themselves around the rapid transformation, growth and agility the cloud delivers. However, this rapid migration is also presenting complexities and risks that few businesses are equipped to deal with, and the security of data has taken center stage. While cloud providers are enabling more security than ever before, there are aspects of Security that they do not cover, and it becomes the responsibility of the users to ensure those are mitigated.
The data dilemma
While its true that sensitive data can be stored safely in the cloud, this is not an inevitable conclusion. According to the McAfee 2019 Cloud Adoption and Risk Report, 21 percent of all files in the cloud contain sensitive data and sharing of sensitive data in the cloud has increased by more than 50 percent. While most of this data is stored in well-established enterprise cloud services such as Box, Salesforce, and Office365, its necessary to realize that none of these services guarantee 100 percent safety.
Irrespective of how robust your threat mitigation strategy is, the threat rates are too high to have a reactive approach. Access control policies must be ascertained and enforced before data ever enters or exits the cloud.
Think of it this wayjust as the number of employees who require the ability to edit a document is much smaller than those who need to view it, it is likely that not everyone who needs to access certain data needs the ability to share it. Examine all permissions and access the context associated with data in the cloud environment. Control who has access. Access management requires three capabilities: the ability to identify and authenticate users, the ability to assign users access rights, and the ability to create and enforce access control policies for resources.
Large institutions that have a range of data, including sensitive consumer data to protect, and many cloud solutions to choose from, must balance potential benefits against risks of breaches and access integrity. What many organizations fail to realize when moving to the cloud is, to what extent they are responsible for securing their own cloud environment. Cloud providers (vendors) secure the infrastructure but securing data, and applications are all the responsibility of the cloud customer.
The Responsibility Equation
When it comes to security, CISOs are speculating if external providers can protect their sensitive data, while also ensuring compliance. There exists a misconception that the Cloud Service Provider is responsible for securing the cloud environment. This is where shared responsibility comes into play. In simple terms, this means that the organization and the vendor split responsibilities for cloud deployment. While the vendor may handle everything from physical networks, servers, and storage to operating systems, and even applications, but the organization will need to be responsible for the rest. In reality, no matter what level of service the vendor offers, the organization is ultimately responsible for the security and compliance of cloud deployment.
As it is with all aspects of cloud, responding to security incidents is also a shared responsibility. CISOs must learn to collaborate effectively with the Cloud Service Provider, to examine and respond to potential security occurrences. To collaborate effectively, they need to understand what information the vendor can share, and the limits within which they can assist.
Companies that are fulfilling their shared responsibility by securing their data are assuming substantially more benefits than those who arent taking data protection into their own hands. There are ways and means of mitigating security risks and the cloud is a feasible alternative for enterprises; the advantages from cloud-managed services far outweigh concerns.
Organizations need to regularly assess the security posture of their cloud environments, and that of their vendors, suppliers, partners all third parties. The Verizon breach is a fine example where the vendors mistake turns to be the organizations headache. The shared security model exists for a reason. No matter who is responsible for the security of the cloud data, the organization is eventually responsible for what happens to their data.
CASB a key enabler
Cloud access security brokers (CASBs) are on-premise or cloud-based security nodes, that sit between cloud service consumers and cloud service providers, to enforce security and compliance for cloud applications. These help organizations extend the security controls of their on-premises infrastructure to the cloud.
CISOs need to evaluate the full risk landscape in their on-premise and externally hosted cloud environments that can compromise security. Think of them this waythey act as central data authentication and encryption hubs for both cloud and on-premise applications, accessed by all endpoints, including personal devices like smartphones and tablets. CASBs are an essential element of a cloud security strategy, that helps organizations govern the use of cloud and protect sensitive data. These implement security procedures like authentication, authorization, encryption, device profiling, alerting and anomaly detection/prevention.
By using CASBs, organizations can:
Conclusion
Technology has come a long way since the dawn of computing that included conventional ways of data management. Today, cloud computing is revolutionizing the IT industry, shaking up the business landscape, and pretty much everything else it touches. Although migration to the cloud is helping CIOs in their digital transformation journeys, hastily jumping into it without the necessary maturity can throw all their efforts out of the window.
While the business advantage of cloud usage is significant, this rapid migration is also introducing complexities and risks that most organizations dont have provisions to deal with. If properly addressed, these issues will not hinder your IT roadmap and data doesnt have to remain anchored on-premise. The future of cloud rests upon introducing industry standards, that will help address regulatory, management and technological matters.
The stronger your cyber defenses are, the better you are at reducing the risk and the impact when something happens.
Disclaimer: CISO MAG does not endorse any of the claims made by the writer. The facts, opinions, and language in the article do not reflect the views of CISO MAG and CISO MAG does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same. Views expressed in this article are personal.
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Data in the Cloud is Much More at Risk Than Enterprises May Think - CISO MAG
Global Cloud Computing Market Competitive Analysis 2019 By Top Companies Strategies Till 2028 – Sound On Sound Fest
New York City, NY: Dec 02, 2019 Published via (Wired Release) The research offers the Cloud Computing Market 2019 Basics:Definitions, categorization, software, and analysis. Furthermore focuses on market product stipulation, arrangements, procedures, Cloud Computing improvement and so on. Thereafter, it studies the worldwide Cloud Computing market vital regional market demands. For example, profit, potential, stock price, manufacture, dispersion, requirement development speed, and forecasting, etc. In the long run, this market report set up SWOT analysis.
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Global Cloud Computing Market Competitive Analysis 2019 By Top Companies Strategies Till 2028 - Sound On Sound Fest
Is Crowd Computing the Next Big Thing? – EE Journal
The upshot: Neocortix can muster smartphones to act as cloud computing resources.
From where we all sit, we see lots of cloud computing either being developed or fully rolled out. The general public is also heavily involved with the cloud, although they may not be as aware of it. To much of the public, the cloud might feel like an amorphous notion of giant banks of computers perhaps dominated by the Big Tech Overlords that are out of their control. In other words, theyre not personally involved with the cloud; its elsewhere and invisible.
And, for the most part, thats true. But theres one company, Neocortix, that has been working for a couple of years to change that. They aim to leverage the vast array of smartphones in the wild, harnessing them to handle cloud-computing-type work in the background when were not using the phone for something else. Add up the number of smartphones around the world, and theres some serious computing potential out there. Call it crowd computing?
And phone owners could be paid for the service to rent out their phones computing capacity. Neocortix claims on their website that top users can earn up to $80 a year for a phone thats engaged in computing for 8 hours a day; if available for 24 hours, it can earn up to $240 a year.
While this sounds straightforward enough (Neocortix will aver that it was anything but), several questions or perhaps concerns immediately come to mind. There are at least six of them:
Lets take these in order.
The security and privacy things both popped immediately to my mind. Lets start with the phone user. This isnt something that a phone can simply be roped into. You have to install an app, and with any app come permissions. If this app were to ask to use the phone or send texts, that would probably be a no-go. Neocortix say that theyve got a 2-1/2-year record of being responsible with the permissions, and they intend to keep it that way. If they were to change that policy on an update, then the phone owner would be prompted for new permissions. In other words, this isnt something that could be snuck into a future revision under the radar.
So, if we trust permissions enough to allow notorious privacy-abusers like Facebook to install apps on our phones, then, hopefully someone with a decent track record should be easier to OK. For the time being, Neocortix has been vetting their cloud users, but that doesnt scale and will be stopping in the not-too-distant future. So the permissions will be what we count on to protect our phones.
What about for the folks doing the computing? Should they be afraid that phone users would be able to see whats going on? Will data breadcrumbs be left on the phone? According to Neocortix, the computation happens in a secure container. In fact, to them, this looks like Linux. The container is unable to see outside files and processes on the phone. Thats good for both the person doing computing and for the phone owner. Theres also no long-term storage at this point. Any data is erased when the session ends. They have a storage version on their roadmap, so that policy may change someday.
When it comes to illicit use, their approach is to use policy and enforce it. Theres only so much that can be done to force behavior using technology; at some point you have to limit things by policy. Even for something as simple as photo storage, each such cloud service has policies as to what kind of content is acceptable (or legal). Although Facebook is working hard at this, right now, automated bots have limited success at flagging certain legal content that violates their internal standards and, in true cat-and-mouse fashion, folks try to alter images in ways that can foil the bots. So, ultimately, Facebook has to rely on complaints and their ability to put users into Facebook jail or ban them outright.
The same holds for pretty much any cloud service, and it will hold for Neocortix as well. I asked about a hypothetical situation once a storage product were to be available: lets say that some cloud-service user is abusing the system to park illicit photos on the various phones. If caught and terminated, what happens to the files on the phones? And, in particular, would the phone owner end up being legally responsible for those images?
The specific answer is TBD. If, in the future, we were to offer a distributed shared-economy storage product, we would have to have permissions, disclaimers, policies, protections, encryption, and remedies at all levels of the product to protect the phone owners and our company from a malicious [cloud-service] customer. Getting that right can be done, but it would be a significant amount of work which we would take very seriously, and that is one of the main reasons that we have not begun any work on such a storage product we have our hands full with our Scalable Compute product, and we will for the foreseeable future.
The next question about the battery has a surprisingly simple answer: this will work only while the charger is plugged in. Likewise for the data-plan question: this works only when the phone is connected via WiFi, meaning that it doesnt chew up data-plan data ever. So they guarantee, with clear text, that participating will not drain your battery and will not overrun your data plan.
Those usage conditions suggest that most phones will be on the nightstand charging at night when they can participate. That provides about eight hours a day of use (and potential income). Spare phones, however, can also be utilized up to 5 phones total for one account. If those phones are left on, with the charger connected and the WiFi active, then they can provide 24 hours of computing availability. This is where the earning potential of 8 vs. 24 hours comes from. If you have two regular-use phones and three spares on the same account, then you have 2 x $80 plus 3 x $240 for a total of $880 per year. And yes, if you earn more than $600 in a year, you will be 1099ed.
Finally, how do the cloud-computing customers interact with this whole service? Neocortix has worked very hard to make the interaction look exactly as it would look if using Amazons cloud service. Given the potential challenges of getting folks to sign up for something new like this, the usage model is a barrier that Neocortix doesnt want to introduce into the process. Existing scripts and approaches should work with little or no modification, easing that friction.
So, will we all eventually be hosts to unlimited amounts of computing on our phones? Its hard to say; it depends on how good a job they do convincing people that its safe. It sounds like theyve done all the right things. But phones have become these playgrounds for companies trying to harvest data from everywhere. Theres some dodgy history to be overcome, and I count myself as one of the skeptical ones when it comes to downloading apps. Then again, I usually come around if theres real value to be had. So, if this gets traction, Id probably join the crowd. Would you?
More info:
Neocortix
Sourcing credit:
Lloyd Watts, Founder and CEO, Neocortix
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Is Crowd Computing the Next Big Thing? - EE Journal
Cloud Computing Market revenue in Europe to exceed USD 75 Bn by 2026: Global Market Insights, Inc. – GlobeNewswire
Selbyville, Delaware, Nov. 28, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) --
According to latest report Europe Cloud Computing Market by Service Type (Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)), Organization Type (Large Enterprises, SMEs), Deployment Model (Public Cloud , Private Cloud, Hybrid Cloud), Application (IT & Telecom, BFSI, Government and Public Sector, Healthcare, Retail, Manufacturing, Education), Regional Outlook, Competitive Market Share & Forecast 2026, by Global Market Insights, Inc., the market valuation of cloud computing in Europe will cross $75 billion by 2026.
The European cloud computing market growth is attributed to the steady uptake of cloud computing platforms to lower IT infrastructure procurement and maintenance costs and rapid expansion of global cloud vendors within the European countries. For instance, in December 2018, AWS launched three data centers in Sweden, expanding AWS regional cloud availability in the country. The data centers helped AWS to gain a significant market share in the country as an increasing number of Swedish firms were migrating to cloud data storage. The cloud computing platforms enable organizations to store and access information over the web, referred to as the cloud, lowering operational costs. Cloud service providers offer on-demand computing resources including storage, networking, and applications based on the pay-per-use business model, enabling enterprises to scale up or down as per their requirements.
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Another factor leading to Europe cloud computing market growth is the supportive regulatory environment as the European government is taking initiatives to promote cloud usage in enterprises. For instance, in February 2019, the EU-funded project Open Clouds for Research Environments (OCRE) launched a tender to accelerate cloud adoption via the European Open Science Cloud. The tender includes Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). The growing dependence on cloud providers based in the U.S. and data security concerns has also compelled government agencies in countries including France and Germany to implement a plan to reduce dependence on cloud providers such as AWS, Google, and Microsoft.
The SaaS cloud computing delivery model held the majority of Europe cloud computing market with around 65% share in 2018. This is attributed to the high scalability and flexibility offered by SaaS platforms. SaaS can be accessed anywhere through various platforms, such as mobile devices and web browsers, reducing the requirement for large-scale infrastructure. SaaS is witnessing a rapid market adoption due to its extensive use for delivering Customer Relationship Management (CRM) applications, enabling enterprises to leverage low-cost benefits through pay-per-use subscription models. Integration of new technologies including AI and machine learning will also strengthen SaaS market growth.
The large enterprises segment is anticipated to grow at a CAGR of over 13% from 2019 to 2026 due to surging demand for replacing legacy IT infrastructure. Large enterprises in European countries are witnessing a dynamic shift toward cloud computing platforms for leveraging the benefits of CRM and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solutions on virtual infrastructure. Increasing investments in cloud computing technologies by large enterprises are expected to augment the deployment of cloud platforms for accelerating service delivery and ensuring business competitiveness.
The public cloud deployment model held over 50% of the Europe cloud computing market share in 2018 as this deployment model supports resource sharing by multiple enterprises to leverage economies of scale. SMEs and startups in European nations are increasingly adopting public cloud models for reducing IT spending and leveraging the scalability of these platforms to handle fluctuating workloads. According to the December 2018 data released by the Directorate-General of the European Commission for Statistics (EuroStat), public cloud adoption in start-ups was 11% more than large enterprises across the EU.
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The retail sector will witness a significant surge in the adoption of cloud computing due to the growing use of the IaaS model to handle website traffic and deliver seamless shopping experience through mobile platforms. The retail industry is rapidly adopting cloud computing technology to leverage customer data for enhanced business intelligence. Technologies, such as interconnected Point-of-Sales (POS) and centralized invoicing through the cloud platform, are assisting retail enterprises in delivering better customer service.
Germany held a significant market share of above 18% of the Europe cloud computing market in 2018 and is anticipated to exhibit lucrative growth over the forecast timeline. This is attributed to the robust ICT infrastructure and the increasing adoption of cloud computing by the German automotive sector for smart manufacturing. For instance, in March 2018, Daimler AG deployed Microsoft Azure cloud services for developing telemetry solutions and vehicle IoT apps. With the advent of Industry 4.0 and the growing use of SaaS by German enterprises, cloud computing usage in the country is expected to witness sustained growth over the forecast timeline.
Companies operating in the Europe cloud computing market are focusing on various business growth strategies including investments in data centers, strengthening partner network, and geographical expansion. Through such strategic moves, companies are trying to gain a broader market share and maintain their leadership in the market. For instance, in September 2019, Google announced the launch of a new cloud data center in Poland to extend its cloud revenues in the European region.
Browse key industry insights spread across 240 pages with 252 market data tables and 29 figures & charts from the report, Europe Cloud Computing Market Size 20192026 in detail along with the table of contents:
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Table of Contents (ToC) of the report:
Chapter 3. European Cloud Computing Market Insights
3.1. Introduction
3.2. Industry segmentation
3.3. Industry landscape, 2015 - 2026
3.4. Evolution of cloud computing
3.5. Cloud computing architecture
3.6. Industry ecosystem
3.7. Technological and innovation landscape
3.8. Regulatory landscape
3.9. Industry impact forces
3.9.1. Growth drivers
3.9.1.1. Increasing demand for cost efficiency and return on investment
3.9.1.2. Strong government support for promoting cloud adoption
3.9.1.3. Presence of numerous cloud data centers in the European region
3.9.1.4. Growing popularity of hybrid cloud computing
3.9.2. Industry pitfalls & challenges
3.9.2.1. Threat of data breaches and cyber attacks
3.9.2.2. Performance issues and system downtimes
3.9.2.3. Shortage of skilled IT workforce
3.10. Growth potential analysis
3.11. Porters analysis
3.12. PESTEL analysis
Browse Complete Table of Contents (ToC) @
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About Global Market Insights
Global Market Insights, Inc., headquartered in Delaware, U.S., is a global market research and consulting service provider; offering syndicated and custom research reports along with growth consulting services. Our business intelligence and industry research reports offer clients with penetrative insights and actionable market data specially designed and presented to aid strategic decision making. These exhaustive reports are designed via a proprietary research methodology and are available for key industries such as chemicals, advanced materials, technology, renewable energy and biotechnology.
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Cloud Computing Market revenue in Europe to exceed USD 75 Bn by 2026: Global Market Insights, Inc. - GlobeNewswire
IT solutions found in the cloud – AZ Big Media
The latest innovations in technology are set to shape the future of the business world. Industry leaders are excited about the prospects of 5G technology, cloud-based operations, and artificial intelligence. While the cloud is not a new idea to businesses, the true opportunities that it holds are just now being realized. There are many things thatcloud-based systemscan bring to your company, but the main that you should know is that implementing this technology has more pros than it does cons. The cloud is going to be a foundational element of the digital infrastructure of the future, with expectations of driverless cars, smart elevators, subways, power plants, and more being managed remotely but accurately and safely through cloud-based storage and computing of massive amounts of data. Within a company, the cloud can be transformative, as it will enable small and mid-sized businesses to rely on artificial intelligence and data analytics to inform their business decisions more wholly and quickly.
Costly IT resources can be housed through the cloud with hosting platforms like Microsoft and Amazon. These arent the only options for your business needs, and you should consider which ofthese cloud software solutions are right for your staff and operating demands.
Using a web-based service, you can choose from several web functions for your business rather than an entire application package. These services use open standards and different languages with a protocol backbone to integrate with the other parts of your companys operations. You could select a web-based service for account processing or a payroll function. There are individual services that can be chosen from a multitude of providers.
A Software as a Service approach is one of the more commonly used elements of cloud computing. It provides multiple cloud users to access a specific application. The new Office 365 is a type of SaaS, with Microsoft selling subscriptions to the entire Office suite or to the applications that the user needs the most. This a streamlined approach to cloud-based interactivity, as the end-user is able to develop a more limited use of solution-based products that deal with daily operations. The services are managed by an IT services provider, help reduce the stress on the end-user.
The Infrastructure as a Service plan establishes the basic needs for cloud operations and gives the user access to virtual machines, network functions, storage space, and dedicated hardware. The technology is a way to outsource infrastructure yet serves as a foundation for the operations of your business or another cloud-based service. Amazon Web Services is a type of IaaS, establishing message queues, services buses, virtual networks, and non-relational storage platforms to users.
A Platform as a Service brings the necessary operating systems and hardware to manage cloud applications. These systems will help increase your business efficiency without the headache that comes with planning, procuring, managing, and maintaining a companys cloud-based solution. Companies will useboth an IaaS and PaaSto manage their IT infrastructure. There are many companies that offer software development kids, making it easier for developers to create and implement their own applications.
There three primary types of cloud deployment systems, either hosted, hybrid, or an on-premise solution. In a hosted cloud solution, there is a services provider that owns, manages, and maintains the system. A hybrid arrangement combines the use of an on-premise and hosted application. On-Premise deployment is generally not cloud-based, but there are applications hosted through private clouds.
Using a cloud-based computing system will give your company access to resources that are costly to achieve through your own IT department. Cloud solutions are efficient, cost-effective, and can be acquired in a number of ways to meet your companys needs.
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IT solutions found in the cloud - AZ Big Media
Alibaba wants its cloud computing to help power the future – Abacus
After a successful listing in Hong Kong this week, Alibaba Group Holding chief executive Daniel Zhang Yong said he remains focused on the long term and empowering people through technology.
Today, because of digital technology, we can enable people and our merchants to do business in a digital way. We are able to help traditional companies transform themselves into a digital, data-driven company, Zhang told the South China Morning Post this week. That was our mission from day one. We have a huge digital infrastructure and we want to use this for good, rather than just build scale.
Zhang said Alibaba is focused on trying to help its partners transform their entire business including sales, transactions, product innovation, cloud infrastructure and supply chain management.
By the end of the annual 24-hour Singles Day shopping extravaganza on November 11 this year, the Chinese technology giant reported a record-shattering 268.4 billion yuan (US$38.4 billion) of sales.
All of this took place with zero downtime, thanks to its cloud infrastructure and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Alibaba Cloud said in a statement following the event.
Cloud infrastructure is critical to the future of society in fact, all future businesses will need the cloud to generate and collect data and then analyse that data to create value, said Zhang. And this requires computing power and efficiency.
Around 544,000 orders per second were processed on our Apsara cloud, which is a public cloud, added Zhang. This validates our capabilities and means we can help many other companies with their cloud needs.
Furthermore, energy consumption at Alibabas data centerdropped 70% from the previous year, saving more than 200,000 kilowatt hours of energy, according to information provided by the company.
Another new trend at this years Singles Day was the sharp increase in people using smart assistants or voice shopping to buy goods. More than one million orders were placed and processed through voice command using Alibabas smart speaker Tmall Genie this year.
New technologies means that consumer behavior changes just like the desktop to mobile internet switch, said Zhang. Voice shopping is a very important new entry point from the physical world to the digital world and we were very happy to see more and more young consumers use voice shopping through Tmall Genie.
Zhang indicated that Alibaba was looking at offering its customers more innovative ways to shop by exploring various disruptive technologies.
One of this years major trends for ecommerce companies in China, including Alibaba rivals JD.com and Pinduoduo, has been the rise of the rural consumer. Spending by shoppers in the countrys second- and third-tier cities have increased as more Chinese consumers have become affluent.
Consumer internet penetration in rural areas and communities is very important. In the past year, 70% of our new customers came from lower tier cities in China, said Zhang. Due to lifestyle changes we once again saw consumer buying behavior change.
Alibaba said Juhuasuan, its ecommerce platform that targets tier-3 cities and below, had 7,000 items that hit over a million orders and 576 items that received over 10 million orders at this years Singles Day event.
Consumers in Chinas lower-tier cities, such as Guilin, Luoyang and Sanya, have showed a higher willingness to pay when compared with those in more affluent cities like Xiamen and Zhuhai, as people in smaller Chinese cities increasingly seek an upgrade in their quality of life and experience, according to PwCs Global Consumer Insights Survey 2019 China Report, issued ahead of this years event.
Zhang said it is not just about consumption though.
We want to help them create new businesses and generate more addressable income, said Zhang. For example, by helping them sell their agricultural produce to buyers in big cities in a more efficient way using digital technologies.
In terms of the risks from the current US-China trade tensions, Zhang pointed out that China is the worlds largest consumer market with rapidly improving digital infrastructure. That is something the US will not want to lose access to.
Trade can makes things easy and partners can make things easy, said Zhang, adding that he hoped the US and China would reach an agreement as that would be good for the world.
I am very confident about Alibabas future though, said Zhang. All of our core technologies today are self-developed, such as Apsara, and that is a testament to our digital capabilities.
Alibaba, which is also listed in New York, is the parent company of the Post.
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Alibaba wants its cloud computing to help power the future - Abacus
Microsoft, not Amazon, is going to win the cloud wars – IT PRO
Brace yourselves, because Im about to share a theory that may be a little unpopular: I believe its only a matter of time before Microsoft Azure overtakes AWS as the dominant force in the world of public cloud.
I know that may sound crazy, and many of you are probably already reaching for the close tab button, but hear me out.
Its no secret that Bezos cloud computing division is currently sitting pretty as market leader, having capitalised incredibly effectively on its first mover advantage while its rivals initial efforts stalled. By cementing its reputation as the biggest force in the cloud industry, it has attracted a number of high-profile customers, but it has struggled to make a major splash within large, established enterprises.
You know who hasnt, though?
Microsoft.
While AWS has always been a favourite of startups and developers, Microsoft has concentrated firmly on the enterprise and met with remarkable success. To sweeten the deal, Microsoft has also been busily releasing a number of business-friendly features, such as its Azure Arc platform, which is designed to make it easier to consume and deploy its services across a large enterprise estate. In fact, any time Ive spoken to a CIO who hasnt yet moved to the cloud but is planning to, Azure has been a key part of their roadmap.
The stated reason for this is usually well, it works with all of our existing systems, which is a simple yet compelling point; if your on-prem servers are primarily running workloads like Active Directory, SQL Server and Exchange Server instances, opting for Microsofts cloud platform is sort of a no-brainer. Add in the fact that most large businesses are likely to be using Microsofts Office and Windows software (and even potentially Windows Server) and the logic becomes apparent.
More importantly, however, Microsoft has learned how to play nicely with others. Azure has always been a more open platform than most have given it credit for, but the addition in recent years of full native support for the likes of Linux and VMware show just how far its come. Its making a real effort to be as flexible as possible, allowing customers to run the workloads that they want in the way they want to run them.
This includes multi-cloud environments, which is the new hotness for businesses that want to avoid vendor lock-in and increase redundancy protection. Microsoft is more than happy to support multi-cloud deployments, if thats what the customer wants.
Amazon? Not so much. As we discussed on this weeks episode of the IT Pro Podcast, there have been recent reports that suggest that AWS partners are banned from even using the term multi-cloud, presumably on the basis that as the current top of the pile giving customers the option of using multiple providers only increases the risk that theyll ditch AWS for a better option. Note that in that scenario, the emphasis is not so much on giving customers the best possible option but on trying to hide from them the fact that other providers exist.
Amazon is undoubtedly on the cutting edge as far as tech development goes; its pioneering work on machine learning, serverless computing and function as a service tools are evidence enough of that. Its enterprise support that will determine the true winner of the cloud wars, however, and in this area, AWS is leagues behind Microsoft.
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Microsoft, not Amazon, is going to win the cloud wars - IT PRO
The best Software as a Service (SaaS) companies of the 2010s decade – TechRepublic
Thousands of SaaS companies provide cloud services to customers all over the world, but some stood out from the crowd during the decade that started with 2010.
Image: Iurii Motov, Getty Images/iStockphoto
The widespread adoption of cloud-based computing services by businesses and organizations around the world continues to accelerate at a remarkable clip. According to Gartner, total worldwide cloud revenue will reach $214.3 billion by the end of 2019. Contrast that amount with TechJury's estimate that the same worldwide cloud revenue amount was only $24.65 billon in 2010. Nearly a complete order of magnitude better in 10 years.
Drilling down on Gartner's statistics, one can see that the Software as a Service (SaaS) market is expected to reach nearly $100 billion in 2019. Obviously, the growth of the SaaS market during the 2010 decade has contributed substantially to the overall growth of cloud computing services. But of the 12,000 or so SaaS companies offering services, which few stood out during the decade?
SEE: Top cloud providers 2019: A leader's guide to the major players (TechRepublic Premium)
Before we start naming names, let me state for the record that this list of best SaaS companies is purely a personal choice and not based on any firm set of measurable criteria. There are literally tens of thousands of SaaS companies providing exceptional services to customers all over the world. If your favorite is not listed here, feel free to tell us why it should be in the discussion below.
For the purposes of this list we are also going to skip over the obvious big three players in the cloud computing services spaceAmazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. In this article, we will consider those companies' collective offerings to fall into the Platform as a Service (PaaS) or Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) categories.
You would be hard-pressed to find a company that epitomizes the SaaS category over the past decade as well as Salesforce. Since its inception in 1999, Salesforce has been on a mission to provide quality CRM services for its customers and has seen its revenue grow from $1.4 billion in 2010 to $13.28 billion in 2019.
Perhaps even more noteworthy is Salesforce's commitment to cloud computing as a service that can transform also-ran businesses and organizations into industry leaders. In many ways, Salesforce has been the decade's primary cheerleader for the benefits of the SaaS and cloud services industry.
When CEO Satya Nadella took over at Microsoft, he committed the company's product line and services to the business enterprise and the cloud. That transition and refocusing of resources has paid off in many ways, including the aforementioned Azure and the venerable productivity suite Office 365.
By making the primary components of Office cloud-based services, which are accessed on a per user subscription model, Microsoft has been able to maintain and even grow its market share in the productivity space. The cloud nature of Office 365 means that the productivity suite can be updated with new features and security patches at willa model businesses have come to expect from all cloud-based services.
As a cloud-based system, Office 365 can tap into the growing mobile workforce trends of the 2010s. For example, collaboration through cloud services like text, video conferencing, email, shared documents, etc., are now, after a decade of transition, standard operating procedure for many enterprises. Microsoft Office 365 caters to these trends and can therefore maintain its relevancy.
SEE:Office 365: A guide for tech and business leaders (free PDF)(TechRepublic)
While an established tech company like Microsoft had to transition to the cloud, Slack's trajectory was organic and powered by a perceived need. Slack grew from a small, internal grass-roots idea of making a better collaboration tool to a major cloud-service company in the span of about seven years.
Launched in August 2013, Slack and the products and services it developed have defined an entire new genre of business softwarethe collaboration hub. The success of Slack is part of the reason there is such a thing as Office 365. Slack became a publicly traded billon-dollar company in 2019 and is now a primary player in the all-important team collaboration space.
Like Slack, Zoom Video Communications burst on the scene in 2011 to change the way businesses and collaborating teams hold meetings, especially video conference meetings. Zoom provides remote conferencing services using the power of cloud computing.
Before Zoom, video conference systems were expensive, clunky, and often failed to work as advertised. By removing that bulky and unreliable infrastructure from the equation, Zoom has been able to make video conferencing a productive reality for many businesses that could not afford such niceties before.
By adding additional collaboration, scheduling, and educational tools, Zoom has become an integral part of the team collaboration space. Many Zoom services can be accessed for free, with the basic business package available for about $15 a month.
SEE:More Decade in Review coverage (TechRepublic on Flipboard)
Another company operating in the collaboration marketplace is Dropbox. The company was founded in 2007 but earned its prominent standing in cloud-based SaaS circles during the 2010s. Dropbox went public in 2018 and has more than 14 million paying customers as of November 2019. The standard plan sells for $12.50/month/user.
Dropbox provides a shareable cloud-based file storage system that is simple to use and is not reliant on the IT infrastructure of the customers it serves. If a user can access the Internet, they can access their Dropbox stored files. A team that can access the same document at the same time can collaborate on the contents of that document. A simple, but important, concept with a simple solution.
The success of the subscription payment model for so many cloud-based SaaS companies has led many "old-tech" companies to change the way they do business. Adobe, for example, now offers its familiar set of business products online, with access granted by subscription. This change of pricing philosophy took place in the latter half of the 2010s decade and can be attributed to Adobe's renewed success.
By offering Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat for about $30 a month instead of requiring thousands of dollars up front, Adobe has become affordable to more users, raising profits, and raising the profile of the company. The prominence of collaboration as a standard business practice has also inspired the company to create new products for a new generation of users.
Another old-tech company to find renewed success in the 2010s by embracing the cloud is the Oracle Corporation. While still concentrating on large business enterprises and their need for Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and databases, Oracle has modified its approach away from expensive hands-on installations of new hardware with long-term maintenance contracts toward cloud-based SaaS services that more customers can afford. The transformation, started and completed during the past decade, has made Oracle relevant again.
During the 10 years that make up the 2010s, cybersecurity attacks have skyrocketed to become a daily problem for any business connected to the internet. It is practically impossible for an individual business to keep up with ever-changing cybersecurity protocols. This is where a cloud-based SaaS like Sophos can step in to help.
Using the power of cloud computing, Sophos can offer businesses security protections and protocols ranging from an improved firewall to threat detection to breach responses. By outsourcing these security measures organizations can focus on their daily business while Sophos worries about keeping ahead of criminal cybersecurity activity.
Looking at the list of best SaaS companies in the decade of the 2010s, you will notice several trends that will continue to be relevant in the 2020s.
Without a doubt, the most successful businesses in the next decade will be the ones that embrace the capabilities and predilections of the modern, always-mobile workforce. As younger employees enter the workforce, their affinity for mobile devices will continue to pervade day-today operations, and businesses must be prepared to take advantage. Contracting with prominent SaaS companies may be the most cost-effective method.
The other major trend to be gleaned from the 2010 decade is cybersecurityor rather the lack thereof. With ransomware and other attacks, criminals have found a lucrative form of security breach that is not likely to go away any time soon. Cybersecurity attacks happen every day, and businesses will likely need help from dedicated cloud-based services just to survive the onslaught.
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The best Software as a Service (SaaS) companies of the 2010s decade - TechRepublic
What to expect from AWS Re:Invent 2019 – IT PRO
The card tables at las Vegas will have to make way for cloud computing this week, as AWS is in town for Re:Invent 2019.
Last year the conference took place in eight venues, with some 50,000 cloud computing enthusiasts descending on the city of sin. There was a lot to take in too, from new blockchain and machine learning service to even satellite data platforms, the announcements came thick and fast.
AWS is the leading provider of public cloud services, so naturally its annual conference is gargantuan. It cant afford to rest on its laurels, though, as its rivals are building up their own offerings and gaining on Amazon fast. In just the last year Microsoft has invested heavily in Azure with a string of acquisitions for migration services, while IBM has changed focus with its massive Red Hat deal and Google is ploughing so much into its cloud its hurting Alphabet earnings.
This is without mentioning the biggest cloud computing deal of the last two years, the Pentagons JEDI contract, being awarded to Microsoft, despite AWS being the clear favourite for much of the bidding.
Bearing all this in mind, I do expect to see a slew of new products and services unveiled throughout the week.
AWS tends to do marathon keynotes that run on for three hours and overflow with announcements. Last year CEO Andy Jassy fired through new products and special guest customers with the same stamina that saw Eliud Kipchoge recently break the world record over 26.2 miles.
Jassy is, of course, back again this year, for not one but two keynotes. On Tuesday he will deliver his main opening day presentation, while on Wednesday he will join the head of worldwide channels and alliances, Doug Yeum for a fireside chat.
CTO Werner Vogels will be on stage on Thursday with an in-depth explainer on all the new products. This two hour deep dive is definitely one for the diehard fans of cloud architecture, with all the technical underpinning you crave. For the frugal, get there early the first 1,000 guests in the keynote line will get a special piece of swag, according to the website.
Last year, machine learning and the AWS Marketplace took precedence and 2019s event should hold more of the same. Recently, the company announced the launch of the AWS Data Exchange, a new hub for partners to share large datasets that customers can use for their machine learning and analytical programmes.
The customer element is key for AWS, as it often integrates and shares these innovations. Last year, head of Formula 1 Ross Brawn joined Jassy on stage keynote and showcased what his sport had done with AWS Sagemaker and other machine learning services. Interestingly, the basic idea for the prediction models they used came from a London-based startup called Vantage Power that developed the technology to predict the lifespan of electric batteries in buses.
Doubtless there will be some kind of machine learning update, but what it is could depend on what AWS customers have innovated. Last year the company announced a partnership with NFL app Next Gen Stats, the automation of NASCARs video library and multiple services with US-based ride-hailing firm Lyft. Vegas is all about gambling, but its a safe bet that at least one of these companies will be in attendance to talk through case studies.
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What to expect from AWS Re:Invent 2019 - IT PRO
Infarm plants its blend of vertical farming and cloud computing in QFC grocery stores – GeekWire
Lelaina Beyer, one of Infarms urban farmers in the Seattle area, harvests greens at the kiosk-sized farm in the produce section of the Kirkland Urban QFC store. (GeekWire Photo / Alan Boyle)
KIRKLAND, Wash. The Seattle area offers a rich smorgasbord of geeky tech-as-a-service offerings ranging from software as a service, to gaming as a service, to pizza as a service.
Now you can add farming as a service to the list.
Thats what Infarm is going for, with hydroponic plant-growth cabinets that shrink the acreage needed to grow fresh greens to fit in a grocery-store aisle. The startup, based in Berlin, Germany, has just opened up its first North American farms inside a pair of QFC supermarkets east of Seattle, at Bellevue Village and here at Kirklands Urban Plaza.
Its a merger of agriculture and technology, Emmanuel Evita, Infarms global communications director, told me during todays first harvest in Kirkland.
The process began a few weeks earlier at a distribution center in Seattles Georgetown neighborhood, where the seedlings for herbs, kale and lettuce got their start. After about a week, Infarms urban farmers transferred the plants to on-site grocery cases, where theyve been spending the past few weeks reaching maturity in a closed, temperature-controlled environment..
LED lights shine with a magenta glow thats optimized for growth, while a hydroponic system feeds and waters the greenery. The plants sit in circular trays that are designed to give the roots more room as they grow. Infarm says its process uses 95% less water and 75% less fertilizer than soil-based agriculture.
Infarms cloud-connected sensors keep track of more than 200,000 plants that cycle through the system every month.
The idea is to have a global network thats also hyperlocal, Evita said. Its grown in stores, hyperlocal. But its global: Each of these farms is connected to the cloud, if you will, where we collect data from all of our farms around the world. At any farm, at any time, we know the pH, the temperature, the nutrient levels. We know everything about whats happening to the plants, and we can adjust accordingly.
Infarm was founded in Germany back in 2013 by a trio of entrepreneurs, and has since spread out to supermarkets across Europe. Among its partners are retail heavyweights including Amazon Fresh in Germany, Marks & Spencer in Britain, and Metro in France. In June, Infarm announced a $100 million funding round led by London VC Atomico.
The company is one of several ventures aiming to capitalize on vertical farming, with varying degrees of success. One such startup, Plenty, has attracted funding from Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and other high-profile techies but announced earlier this month that it was putting its plans to build a 100,000-square-foot indoor farm in the Seattle area on hold.
About a year ago, QFC executive Suzy Monford came across Infarm during a visit to Europe. She sold her colleagues at Kroger, the grocery chains parent company, on the idea of forming the first U.S. partnership. Infarms cabinets are due to start popping up at about a dozen more QFC stores after the holidays and could put down roots with Krogers other divisions as well.
The value proposition focuses on getting fresh produce including salad staples such as lettuce and kale as well as basil, cilantro, dill, mint and parsley to customers who rarely get out of the city or down to the farmers market.
We are hoping to shorten the distance between where food is produced and where its consumed, Evita said. In 2050, therell be 7 billion people living in cities, and we want to do what we can to help feed these people in a sustainable way. What you see here is the beginning.
He offered me a snippet of the just-harvested cilantro with gloved hands. After rolling the leaf to release its aroma, I chewed the sample and was reminded of the fresh leaves of clover and lambs quarters that I munched on when I was a farmboy in Iowa. It was enough to make me believe Infarms claim that conventionally grown greens lose 45% of their nutrients by the time they arrive at the supermarket.
But dont just take my word for it: Christiane Leibrandt, a German-born transplant to Kirkland, was the first shopper to sample the basil and give a review. Really delicious, she said. I love basil and use it a lot. The flavor is really rich.
Freshness comes at a premium: Infarms lettuce sells for $2.99, compared with the $1.99 price for a head of organic leaf lettuce on the next aisle over. But that $2.99 compares more favorably with the price charged for other brands of living, hydroponically grown butter lettuce.
The acid test came when I brought a head of Infarms caravel lettuce home and pulled off a leaf for our canaries. The birds love the lettuce we grow in the back garden, but theyre not so crazy about store-bought stuff.
For what its worth, the leaf was pecked down to the stem in a half-hour.
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Infarm plants its blend of vertical farming and cloud computing in QFC grocery stores - GeekWire